- Fourth Korver fuels offense in crunch time
Then Korver took over, punctuating the 7-0 rally with a three-pointer of his own, forcing Hoiberg to take a timeout with his team in danger of losing for the first time since Dec. 6.
The sharpshooter out of Creighton made his mark with nine fourth-quarter points, burying two treys – one of which yielded a four-point play with five minutes remaining in regulation – to post a +5 differential in the critical parts of the game. His 11 minutes of playing time was a team-high for the fourth quarter, a testament to the value he brings in the high-leverage moments.
“His name is ‘fourth Korver’ for a reason,” James said. “Any time he gets a little separation, we want to continue to go back to him and that four-point play was huge.”
Only Love had a higher differential (+6) in a matchup defined by grit on the defensive end of the floor, clutch shooting on the offensive end of the floor and Isaiah Thomas dressed on the Cavs bench for the first time in his career.
“It’s a building block,” said James. “So to have Isaiah out there in warmups with us, going through our prayer, going through the starting lineups and everything with us, it’s just another step in the right direction.”
John Alfes has covered Cleveland sports since August of 2016. Follow him on Twitter @JohnAlfes for breaking news and in-depth coverage all season long.
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